In text citations are references to another author's work within the body of a paper. These citations can either be direct quotes or paraphrasing of the author's work. They are often referred to as parenthetical citations. In text citations can be incorporated into papers through two different techniques. The first technique uses the author's name in a signal phrase. A signal phrase informs the reader of an upcoming paraphrase or quote by using the author's or creator's name to segue into the material. The other technique is to use a parenthetical with the author's or creator's name immediately after the paraphrase or quotation. Each parenthetic requires a page number. In the event that there is no pagination, as is the case with most websites, use n.p. in place of page numbers.

Author's name used in a signal phrase or as a parenthetical.

Single author signal phrase: According to Jensen, Cage used chance operations initially to organize the pre-composed charts for his composition Music for Changes in 1951 (97).

Two to three authors used in signal phrase or as a parenthetical. If there are three authors used in a parenthetical citation separate them with commas.

Two authors in a signal phrase: As Havens and Ghaemi state "the kind of depression...patients experience is not simply recurrent major depressive episodes, separated by periods of euthymia, but...chronic, unremitting depresssion..."(138).

Two authors parenthetical: "It is our view that many bipolar may not have clinical depression viewed as endogenus disease entity, but rather they may be suffering from clinical "despair," as defined by existential philosophers Soren Kierkegaard and Karl Jaspers" (Havens and Ghaemi 138).

Multiple authors used in signal phrase or as a parenthetical.

Multiple authors in a signal phrase: In the course of their research, Lazarinis, et al., have found that the increased demand for non-English web documents is creating major issues for search engines (230).

Multiple authors parenthtetical: "Search engines crawl the Web and fetch documents which are then indexed and included in
their databases" (Lazarinis, et al. 231).

Government agency or Corporation as an author for an in-text citation.

Government Agency or Corporation in a signal phrase: Agoraphobia according to the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) is an intense fear of being trapped in inescapable situations that ultimately leads to the avoidance of situations where this may occur (n.p.).

Government Agency or Corporation parenthetical: The onset of Agoraphobia occurs around the age of twenty and strickens approximately 1.8 million adults (National Institute of Mental Health).

For an article from a website with an unknown author use the complete title as a signal phrase or use a shortened or abbreviated form of the title for the parenthetical. If there are no page numbers, as is the case with most websites, use n.p. in place of page numbers.
Remember book titles are italicized while article titles are placed in quotation marks.

Article from website with an unknown author in a signal phrase: According to the article, "Lab-Grown Meat a Reality, But Who Will Eat It?," the idea for lab grown meat has been around for centuries and has been used in science fiction novels as well (n.p.).

Article from a website with an unknown author as a parenthetical: Biologist Vladamir Mironov has been producing "shmeat" in formless sheets for years ( Lab-Grown Meat n.p.).

The Works Cited Page(s) should be on a separate page at the end of the project with the label Works Cited centered 1" from the top of the sheet. Diane Hacker provides a helpful example on her website Sample MLA Works Cited List.

All citation entries should be hanging; first line flush with left margin, each additional line shall be indented 5 spaces from left margin.

Citation entries should be double spaced.

Entries should be alphabetized by authors last name. Unauthored entries should be alphabetized by the first significant title word.

Author's and editor's names are always inverted regardless of source, e.g., book, magazine, newspaper or journal. List the last name first, followed by a comma, then their first name and a period after them. For editor(s), the abbreviation ed(s). should be placed after the editor's name followed by a period.

Single author: Beckett, Samuel.

Single editor: Bloom, Harold, ed.

If there is more than one author or editor, only invert the first.

Two authors: Beckett, Samuel and James Joyce.

Two editors: Carmichel, Harold, and Totie Fields, eds.

If there are more than 3 authors/editors, you can list the first author followed by a comma and add "et al" for the remaining contributors and place a period after "et al." or you can list each individual author as they appear on the title page, inverting only the first author's name.

Multiple authors: Dewey, John, et al.

Multiple editiors: Subudnick, Morton, et al., eds.

Book titles should always be italicized and followed by a period. All nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs and subordinating conjunctions (e.g. after, if, that, until and when) should be capitalized. The following are not capitalized: articles (unless they are the first word in the title), prepositions and coordinating conjunctions (and, but, for, or, so) as well as the infinitive to.

Book title: Szanto, Andras, ed. What Orwell Didn't Know: Propaganda and the New Face of American Politics.

Additionally, if the book is an edition other than the first, the edition should be listed after the title period and followed by its own period as well.

The titles of articles from periodicals should be in quotations and follow the same capitalization rules as books (Book title).

Article or essay: "John Cage, Chance Operations, and the Chaos Game: Cage and the I Ching."

Periodical titles should be always italicized and any articles preceding the title should be omitted.

Periodical title: The New York Times=New York Times

The Plain Dealer=Plain Dealer

The Journal of Cognitive Dissonance Theory=Journal of Cognitive Dissonance Theory

Entries for academic journals should include the volume, issue number, publication year in parentheses followed by a colon and the page numbers for the complete article not just the pages used for the research project.

Academic journal: Leonardo Music Journal 13.1 (2003): 11-15.

Magazine entries that are published weekly or bi-weekly should include the complete date (e.g., day, abbreviated month and year). Monthly or bi-monthly publications should include the abbreviated month or months followed by the year. In each instance, a colon should follow the year and conclude with the page numbers.

Entries for newspapers should contain the complete date (e.g., day, abbreviated month and year) followed by a comma then the specific edition if there is one. The date or edition (if there is one) should be followed by a colon then the page number. If the article appears on more than one page then the number should be followed by +, e.g. C5+.

Newspaper: Plain Dealer 21 Aug. 2009: A1+.

All entries should identify the medium of publication, e.g. print, web, dvd, etc.

Print resource: Utne Reader Sept.-Oct. 2009: 56-59. Print.

Entries for resources retrieved from databases should contain the title of database in italics, medium of publication (Web), and finally the date of access (day, month and year).

Entries for sources retrieved from blogs should be formatted as follows:

Editor, screen name, author, or compiler name (if available). âPosting Title.â Name of Site. Version number (if available). Name of institution/organization affiliated with the site (sponsor or publisher). Medium of publication. Date of access.

MLA Flash Tutorial (http://library.hunter.cuny.edu/tutorials/mla/mla_tutorial.html) from Hunter Library at CUNY is an excellent resource that explains the MLA style including the updates in the 3rd edition.